Food supplies had been brought over from She Who Waits’ shuttle. There was plenty to eat if you didn’t mind the flavor of stale breakfast cereal.
Jenna, still in the Cordice medical bed, occupied the largest room. Her sister had been sleeping for the past twenty hours. Carmen stood by in a spindlebot and watched, monitoring everything. One of the floating bots remained at her side.
The journey would take almost two days. Carmen had plotted the course to be as fast as possible while pulling minimal g’s during the acceleration and deceleration.
The red light popped up above the bot. She Who Waits spoke. “You haven’t rested.”
“I’m lying down.”
“But your mind works the harvester and your spindlebot constantly.”
“You’re worried?”
“Yes. Designate Sylvia Vincent requests to speak with you. She also inquires of designate Jenna Vincent.”
“Where is she? Did they make it to the Framework?”
“Not yet but they are close. She remains on board the Melded frigate.”
The Melded had handed Agent Barrett over to a sphere Carmen had sent to collect him. He was now safely secluded in his own private room on the harvester with all the amenities needed for a survivable voyage back to Earth. He hadn’t said much since his return and appeared worn out and sullen. She gave him a set of monitors so at least he’d have a view.
Her mother had tried to speak with the spindlebot Carmen had sent to collect him. But Carmen had been juggling a dozen systems on the harvester and hadn’t been able to respond.
Once the exchange was completed, the Melded hadn’t wasted time waiting on the Cordice before starting their journey back to the Framework. It was supposed to take them less than a day. The Cordice home ship would follow, as would She Who Waits’ shuttle with Carmen on board.
The com node pinged for her attention. It was the Melded vessel.
“Car, please answer,” Sylvia Vincent said. “We can still turn around. You and I could travel together. Talk directly. It would be so much better to see each other face-to-face. You don’t have to be alone. I can assist in bringing Jenna back.”
“Later. And I’m not alone. She Who Waits is here. We’ll meet on the Framework. I have to go, Mom.”
She turned off her com. Focused on Jenna.
Her sister hadn’t eaten, but she had taken some water. Carmen checked the readouts on the bed’s virtual display. Body temperature remained elevated. Breathing shallow. But at least Jenna hadn’t gotten any worse. All that could change in an instant. And if it did change, if her sister’s heart stopped or if she slipped into shock, what then?
Carmen had a contingency plan. If Jenna’s health spiraled further, the time would come to see how fast the harvester could go.
After an hour the com pinged again. But she ignored it.
Her mother would have to wait. Seeing her face-to-face was what Carmen wanted too. With eyes on her maybe she could figure out whether her mom was herself or had had her brain wiped by the Melded. But that would happen soon enough. The shuttle’s engines fired. They tailed the Cordice on a trajectory beyond Mars.
The Framework orbited the sun halfway to the asteroid belt and in the opposite direction from Earth. Carmen’s body was getting further away from home.
She had so many questions about what had happened to her mother, their mission, the aliens, and the attack of the enemy. But her quest to find her mom had almost cost Jenna her life.
What nagged her the most was the notion that her mom was just being herself and that her stealing the harvester, abducting Carmen and Jenna, and getting involved with the Cordice war faction and the Melded had all been intentional.
As if Jenna could be spirited away without her sons. As if Carmen could ignore the fact that their world was facing a fate it had no idea was coming.
She tried to remember the last time her mom had been a source of comfort. The memory resided somewhere in the haze of early childhood, the same place where the yearning to be reunited with her originated.
Carmen attempted to send a message to Earth using both laser and radio. Would any of her broadcasts be received before they arrived? Her mother had figured out how to hack the internet, so why couldn’t she? But it wasn’t happening and she had lost patience trying to understand the communication subroutines.
Still, she persisted. She sent her call out on every band frequency and hoped the shotgun blast of repeating messages would find a listening ear.
“This is Carmen Vincent, daughter of Sylvia Vincent. We’re approaching Earth from Mars. I’ll be landing at Garden Village General Hospital with my sister, who will need medical attention.”
The absurdity of it didn’t escape her. What would anyone listening think? A prank in poor taste. But there had to be others like Agent Barrett, be they Homeland Security, NSA, or, considering her luck, the Peace Patrol, who might hear. She considered what their reception might be. Tanks, black helicopters, and lots of guns pointing at them, no doubt, considering their departure and the fact that Barrett wasn’t the one sending the message.
As her voice looped over and over she tried to decipher the harvester’s sensors so she might hear a reply. She gave up after her mind grew too fuzzy to concentrate.
For the moment, watching her sister sleep calmed her.
Fatigue weighed heavy. She’d need to disconnect and care for her own body inside She Who Waits’ shuttle. Her skin was grimy
